The Global Geothermal Challenge is an incentive prize to commercialize a next generation geothermal downhole pumping system. Currently the effort is focused on designing the criteria for the pump as well as defining which teams can compete.
Electricity has been generated from geothermal sources since 1913 but it is limited in its technology and knowledge base. Currently, venture capital is pouring into the sector with an attempt to create a lateral industrial shift of both professionals and technology from the oil and gas sector. However, this effort is limited by intense oil and gas development and a retiring geothermal intelligentsia. In part, the prize will invigorate this sector.
The Foundation for Geothermal Innovation seeks to support the geothermal community with a program to accelerate geothermal innovation, but also bring new and young professionals to the industry.
Elevated temperatures in confined subsurface environments pose a unique set of challenges not encountered in other areas of energy retrieval. Technically, development is needed not only in pump technology but also in sensors, drilling techniques, resource characterization and stimulation. Many of these advancements can and will occur with the application of techniques from the oil and gas sector; however, one should not assume that it is a straightforward shift from oil and gas to geothermal.
